"You may have recently heard the news about the potentially exciting career mode in ModNation Racers: Road Trip. Not all news bits are quite as fun, however, as a developer chat has revealed the seemingly unthinkable: the game will not have online head-to-head racing.

While ad-hoc mode will still be supported, and players can use the Vita’s innovative Near feature to share a game, online matches and the popular ModSpot feature are a no go. The following is a transcript from a live chat session between fans and the development team. Bolded names represent a dev speaking."

Comment From Zyketor:“The PSP version had 6 player Infrastructure Online multiplayer, but according to the official box for MNR: RT, it only supports ad-hoc, no online multiplayer (racing, not sharing). Can you please give us a for sure answer as to if Road Trip has online via infrastructure racing, not just sharing?”

Vernon:"Hey Zyketor, we are supporting Ad-Hoc however not infrasructure as in Head to Head. With all of the other online features though, Ghost Laps, Regional Leaderboards with times beat notifcations, etc. We went with more of an Asynchronous online feature set that is really robust! We’ll share more about all of these online features as we get closer to launch! “

Comment From Xuphor:“Will Modnation Racers: Road Trip support a ModSpot ala the PS3 version for a lobby, or will it be lobby-less like the PSP version?”

MVdor: “We wanted to keep ModSpot unique for the PS3, but with Near, you’ll be able to interact with PS Vita owners around you and share your unlocked items via the PS Vita’s ‘gifting’ feature. “